'01 ST RH rear brake backing plate

[koda2000]

Loosing my axle the other day and then skidding along for 50 ft or so on the brake backing plate has pretty well destroyed it. Does anyone have or know of a used one? Not an easy item to locate apparently.

 

[koda2000]

Today I decided to start the postmortem on my ST's axle failure.

Initial Findings:
Axle bearing totally broken
Axle seal destroyed
Needle bearings in the axle tube (all accounted for)
Brake backing plate flattened on bottom and about 1/2 the thickness ground off
Leading brake shoe bent and lining broken
Metal shards in the axle tube (removed most with a magnet)
"C" clip & broken button from axle missing (found the O-ring in the axle tube, undamaged)

No real surprises there.

Looked in the axle tube and I can see the cross-pin. No sign of the tip of the button or "C" clip. Hopefully they're just sitting in the bottom of the diff and haven't damaged the gears.

I spent about a hour trying to straighten out the brake backing plate. It's not pretty, but I'm pretty sure it will be serviceable. The brake drum seems to fit in the braking plate okay. Once I replace the axle bearing and stick the axle back in I'll see if the brake drum turns w/o rubbing on the backing plate. New ones are available from Tasca Ford, but they're rather expensive.

Parts I know I'll need:
New RH axle ($130-$200 includes axle bearing and seal)
New "C" clip (if required $5)
3 QTS 75W140 synthetic gear oil ($50-$60)
Ultra Black RTV to seal the rear cover $7 (I may have a tube)
Rear brake shoes (shoes will be warranted at AutoZone)
Rear drum brake hardware kit (< $10)
Brake/Parts cleaner ($15)

Let's call that $200-$250. I've also located a used 4:10 LSD out of a 2001 ST about 40 miles north of me. Guy's asking $200 for the complete axle assembly, but I have to pull it. The truck bed is off, so pulling the axle wouldn't be hard to do, but I'd sure miss having my pneumatic impact wrench (don't know if there would be electric power available). If I buy the used axle assembly, I still need parts and and materials (I wouldn't just throw it in and hope for the best) and who knows what condition the used diff is in. I think it makes more sense for me to fix my diff if possible. At lease I know the gears are quiet and wear parts were already replaced.

So the next step for me is to remove the sway bar and diff cover and see what the internals look like.

 

[koda2000]

Today I removed the rear diff cover. I saw no damage to the spider gears, ring or pinion. I found the button from the end of the axle and the "C" clip sitting on top of one another in deepest part of the bottom of the diff. They were in pretty good condition, considering. Both showed a single chew mark, but I don't know from which gears. I would assume from the spiders, but there was zero indication of any damage to the gears. It looks like the button and "C" clip dropped out of the side gear and straight down into the bottom of the diff case. Although there were some metal shards in the passenger side axle tube. the center was clean as a whistle, so I assume the driver's side axle tube is also clean.

In examining the broken button, it appears it just broke off the axle. This really puzzles me. After all, that axle survived in another Explorer for over 100,000 miles w/out breaking. Maybe it was somehow damaged by the salvage yard... who knows.

While removing the cross-pin the cross-pin lock bolt gave me quite a hard time. I was using a new 8mm wrench, but it still wanted to strip the head of the bolt. I tried heating the cross pin, but the damn bolt just wouldn't come loose. I know from prior experience that you're screwed if you can't get that bolt out. In desperation I grabbed my 1/4 socket set and found that the 5/16 size fit pretty well. Better the the 8mm box wrench. I heated the carrier case up real good and put a short cheater pipe on my 1/4" ratchet. The bolt finally came free. It will not be reused! Is it actually a 7.5MM head on that bolt? I'm beginning to believe it is... If so that would explain while my 8mm wrench was slipping. Now I gotta try to find a 7.5MM box wrench I guess.

http://www.cjponyparts.com/rear-axl...m_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=EbayCommerceNetwork

So it looks like I will need:
A new axle w/axle bearing and seal ($130)
New cross-pin, lock bolt, "C" clips (I don't trust the old ones) ($32)
3 Qts Valvoline 80W90 regular hypoid gear oil ($20)
Replacement brake shoes (free AZ warrantied)

** Total around $185 - I'm not spending any more than I have to on this POS